"I done seen the streets suck a lot of cats dry but not you and I, my Nigga, we got to get over the water" - The Roots, Water (Phrenology)
Lonewacko wonders where the money really goes when donating to certain charities. KD does the research as it relates to the homeless.
Jilly brings up Care Not Cash, in the comments of kd's post, which passed in the November election...except maybe not.
Tim Redmond says...
The reason so many conservative talk-radio hosts are so effective, he said, is that right-wing positions are very simplistic and work well in rhetoric and sound bites. Liberals start to talk about social and economic problems, and all of a sudden things get complicated. They're too open-minded; they see too many sides of the story.So it was easy for Sup. Gavin Newsom to come up with a simplistic idea (cut welfare payments to homeless people) and a simplistic slogan ("Care Not Cash") and run with it – even in liberal San Francisco, it worked.
What did progressives say? Solving homelessness is complicated and expensive. That happens to be true. But it doesn't play as well in sound-bite campaigns.
But Newsom had something else going for him: he sounded like he was really taking on an issue, that he had a new and different idea.
Which probably really appealed to folks that see the homeless like Charlie McDuff...
There are about 1.1 million homeless people in the Golden State, according to the governor's office. This means that California has a homeless population larger than the population of Detroit. Many are drawn in part by the good weather and generous welfare payments.Beyond the single mothers, the maimed and the ill who reach for the helping hand, there is the so-called stamp tramp who bites it. The things that society holds dear — work, self-sufficiency, moral rectitude — are anathema to him.
While the federal welfare overhaul five years ago put single mothers to work, many California counties continue to make payments to capable indigent men. For instance, San Francisco gives $395 a month plus food stamp vouchers. Similarly, Los Angeles gives more than $220 and $135 in food stamps.
The counties' welfare programs are not linked by computer and there is little to stop a person from collecting his benefits in San Francisco, jumping the freight train and making his way to Los Angeles to collect again.
With fake identification, a person can collect welfare perhaps four times a month. The tramp will more likely spend it on crack and booze, since mission food is free.
So, who stands where on the issue of Homelessness?
Starhawk opines...
A Republican and a Democrat were walking down the street when they came
to a homeless person. The Republican gave the homeless person his
business card and told him to come to his business for a job. He then
took twenty dollars out of his pocket and gave it to the homeless
person.The Democrat was very impressed, and when they came to another homeless
person, he decided to help. He walked over to the homeless person and
gave him directions to the welfare office. He then reached into the
Republican's pocket and got out twenty dollars. He kept 15 for
administrative fees and gave the homeless person five.Now you understand the difference between Republicans and Democrats.
[email protected]@r's retort suggests differently.
Have I grinched up your holidays yet?